Sephardic Leader Oziel Dies

Leon Oziel, a leader of the Sephardic community, died of a sudden heart attack at age 44 as he was entering Mt. Sinai Hospital here after leaving his office. He had been feeling poorly.

Oziel, who came to Canada from Tangiers in 1957, was president of the Canadian Sephardic Federation and a former president of the Ontario Sephardic Association. He was a founder of Or Ha-Emet, Toronto’s only Sephardic day school, and a founder and long-time president of Congregation Petach Tikva Anshe Castillia here.

Oziel was also active in the Jewish Immigrant Aid Service, the Canadian Jewish Congress, the Canadian Zionist Federation and Canadian Friends of the Hebrew University. He was a delegate to two World Zionist Congresses in Jerusalem.

His family has received messages of condolence from Education Minister Yitzhak Navon of Israel and Housing Minister David Levy, both of Sephardic descent.